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Welcome to the David Victor Vector blog. This is blog that covers religious observances around the world international affairs and global business. This blog describes religious holidays for most major religions as well as raising issues dealing with globalization, international business ethics, cross-cultural business communication and political events affecting business in an integrated world economy. I look forward your discussion and commentary on these articles and subjects. Enjoy!

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Several
north and central European countries celebrate Walpurgis Night on April 30. This is the
same day as the Wiccan, neo-Pagan and Celtic Revivalist holiday of Beltane. Both Walpurgis Night and Beltane are linked to May Day, a separate but interlinked secular holiday
on
May 1.

May Day

May
Day itself has been adopted in over 80 countries as an official state
holiday in over 80 nations, where it is most commonly observed as
International Workers' Day. This is an entirely secular holiday marking
the May Day Riots of 1894 (which, in turn, were inspired by
commemorations of the Haymarket Massacre of Chicago in 1886 (which
actually took place on May 4, when police killed seven and wounded over
70 largely unarmed labor demonstrators after a bomb went off). In 1904,
the International Socialist Conference called for the official
commemoration of these events on May 1. The fact that the date selected
May 1 rather than the original May 4, however, was likely influenced by
the pre-existing celebration of May Day in much of Europe already. Although May Day is a secular holiday in all of the nations in which it is an official state holiday, it has its roots in the pre-Christian celebrations of May 1. For many neo-Pagans of various North European traditions, May Day is a religious holiday, just as Beltane is within the Wiccan, British neo-Pagan, neo-Druidic and Celtic Revivalist. Those North European neo-Pagan traditions for whom this is a religious observance includeAsatru Folk Assembly, Odinism, Theodism. Romuva and Forn Sed

Walpurgis Night

Though the
celebration of Walpurgis Night is not an official holiday anywhere, it is widely celebrated across Europe. Indeed, it is widespread enough, though, to be a de
facto half-day holiday in Sweden, Finland and Estonia. With the exception of those practicing Norse neo-Pagan religions, the vast majority of the participants in these highly popular celebrations do so as secular holidays.

Walpurgis Night, Stockholm

In the Czech Republic, the secular holiday is known as Pálení čarodějnic or
"the burning of the witches."

In much of the rest of Europe the secular
holiday is known by some variation of the name Walpurgis Night. In the Netherlands, Flanders, Germany, and Austria, it is known as Walpurgisnacht. In Finland it is known as Vappu, in Estonia as Volbriöö, in Sweden as Valborgsmässoafton, in Denmark as Valborgsaften,in Lithuania as Valpurgijos naktis.and in Latvia as Valpurģu nakts.

In the Netherlands, the holiday as been displaced since 1948 with the celebration of Queen's Day. This is unlikely to change with the accession in 2013 (on Queen's Day) of Willem-Alexander to the throne. The new king's birthday is April 27.

Saint Walpurgis and the Pagan Tradition

Technically Walpurgis Night is associated with the 8th
Century Catholic Saint Walpurga. The English-born

St. WalpurgaContern Church, Luxembourg

Saint Walpurga devoted
her life to traveling what is now Germany with her uncle Saint Boniface
converting Pagans to Christianity. Significantly, tthe
timing of the holiday takes place on Saint Walpurga's canonization date
(May 1) rather than her Saint's Day which is actually February 25 (the
day of her death).

The
acceptance of moving Saint Walpurga's celebration from her Saint's Day
to May 1 arguably seems likely to have been influenced by the timing of
surrounding Pagan holidays. Interestingly, Beltane is only one of the
Pagan traditions influencing this. Indeed, because Beltane is primarily a
tradition of the Celtic lands, the English-born Saint Walpurga would
likely have known more about the Celtic Pagan holiday than those among
whom she proselytized in Germany. That said, throughout Europe, Pagan
traditions also marked the cross-quarter day as the beginning of the
summer sefason.

Greco-Roman and Norse Foundations

The Walpurgis Night and May Day celebrations have their roots in two pre-Christian traditions: ancient Greco-Roman holiday of Floralia and the pre-Christian Norse holiday of Thrimilci.

Floralia

The Triumph of Floraby Tiepelo

In
the ancient Greek and Roman traditions, Floralia took place from April
28 to May 3, honoring Flora, the Goddess of flowers and fertility.
Floralia was observed by going into the woods or fields to gather
flowers. This is a tradition still practiced as part of Walpurgis Night
(and Beltane as well).

Floralia
also featured public games, including naked dances and mock battles of
prostitutes. While neither naked dancing nor mock battles of prostitutes
are part of Beltane or Walpurgis Night traditions, this may have
contributed to the long-standing accusation by Christians that this was
the Witches' Night when witches had sexual relations with the Devil and
various demons. While such calumnies were unfairly leveled at Pagans
during this time, the belief that spirits walked the Earth on
cross-quarter days is true. This is also the case with the cross-quarter
day exactly 6 months earlier on the evening of October 31 with Samhain
(secularized as Halloween in North America). For more on Samhain, please
see:

ThrimilciIn the Norse pagan tradition, Thrimilci celebrates the self-sacrifice of the god Odin the All-Father on the World Tree Yggdrasil. In the pre-Christian era was and today for Norse neo-Pagan traditions (such as Asatru Folk Assembly, Odinism, Theodism, Romuva and Forn Sed) is a celebration that runs from April 22-May 1.

Thrimilci marks the nine days that Odin hung from the World Tree. On the ninth night, Odin took in the understanding of the Runes gaining full knowledge of the world. The light of this knowledge flashed so intensely that he died briefly and was reborn.

Walpurgis Night and May Day Rituals

Bonfires

Walpurgis Night bonfire, Berlin

Bonfires are the central focus of Walpurgis Night. The death and rebirth of Odin on the last night of Thrimilci has been celebrated from the pre-Christian era with the lighting of bonfires to symbolize the light Odin saw. It is from this tradition that the bonfires of Walpurgis Night (and those of Beltane most likely) derive.

Sacred Groves, Tree Worship and the May Pole

On
Thrimilci, sacrifices were made to Odin in various sacred groves, and
the trees associated not only with Odin but with each god in the
pantheon were were honored.

The practices conducted today on Walpurgis Night, continue to follow neo-Pagan traditions. In northern Europe, in fact, these traditions are practiced in a manner largely unchanged from before the Christianization of the region.

In German
and Scandinavian traditions, pre-Christian pagan worship at the summer cross-quarter
day included gathering for rites in holy groves. Among the most famous of these was
the Holy Grove of Thor in Jutland, Denmark which was cut down by
Christians only in the mid-15th Century.

Another notable center of tree worship was the Lithuanian Sacred Oak in Sambia (near present-day Kaliningrad) with its temple called Romuva. It is from this temple and Sacred Oak that the Lithuanian neo-Pagan movement Romuva takes its name today.

Sacred Oak of Šventybrastis

Although most sacred groves were cut down during the Christianization era, a handful survive. One of the best-known of these is sacred grove at Šventybrastis, Lithuania. Though the temple that once stood there is no longer standing, the Sacred Oak of Šventybrastis is still standing.

The
worship at these sites was for fertility. The sacred trees in many of
these traditions were emblems of the masculine force and the offerings
to them represented the feminine force. Although this is a far cry from
the Church's accusations of wild sexual escapades, the Christian critics
were correct in seeing this as a joining of the masculine and the
feminine.

Erecting the Maybaum, Bavaria

It is from these traditions that the Maypole seems to have derived. Its name in German -- Maibaum --
makes this association more clearly. The Maypole or May Tree is a
phallic symbol wrapped with the symbols of the feminine (ribbons and
flowers).

This post is not meant as a full explanation of the religious rites and practices of the Norse neo-Pagan traditions such as Asatru Folk Assembly, Odinism, Theodism. Romuva and Forn Sed, although many of the ritual practices of these religions are alluded to here.It is certainly encouraged to look further into this living (and notably growing) religions.

Instead, this post is meant simply to give an idea of the pagan religious foundation to the current Walpurgis Night and May Day practices widespread throughout northern and central Europe today.

Carpenter Lincoln, Jenette Emeline (2012, reprint edition), The Festival Book, May-Day Pastime and the May-Pole Dances,
Revels and Musical Games for the Playground, School and College, Forgotten Books.

David A. Victor photo

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About Me

David A. Victor, Ph.D. is a business professor, author and consultant. He is Director of International Business Programs at the Eastern Michigan University College of Business where he is also a tenured Full Professor of Management. He teaches courses in business communication, business ethics, international business ethics, international business, and international management. Dr Victor’s book International Business Communication (Harper Collins, 1992) was the first book published on the subject in the United States. Dr. Victor is also a business consultant and co-founder of the non-profit organization One Village One World.

More About David Victor's Academic Experience

I teach at the Eastern Michigan University College of Business I am also editor of the Global Advances in Business Communication. http://commons.emich.edu/gabc/

Among other subjects, I teach Managing World Business Communication, Fundamentals of Global Business, international business ethics, international business, Business Ethics/CSR, and International Management as well as a series of "Doing Business In..." seminars for business in specific countries and regions. My course at EMU in Managing World Business Communication first designed and taught nearly 20 years ago was among the first regularly taught on cross-cultural business communication in an AACSB-accredited school.

From 1996-1997, I was President of the Association for Business Communication and helped to establish the European and the Asia/Pacific regions of that organization. In 2010, I was honored to have won the Meada Gibbs Outstanding Teaching Award, an international prize given by the Association for Business Communication. Over the years, I have received 6 grants from a variety of sources including the US Department of Education and the Federal Government of Canada. .

In 1992, I was the first recipient of the Distinguished Visiting Foreign Professorship (Graduate Level) of the InstitutoTecnologico y EstudiosSuperiores de Monterrey. I was also a Visiting Professor at the University of Antwerp in Belgium in 2008 and at the Universidade do Caxias do Sul in Brazil in 2010. I also hold classes for Saint Mary's of California's TransGlobal Executive MBA students.

About David Victor’s Consulting Experience

I have consulted since the mid-1980’s, mostly in the area of international business communication, expatriate relocation and diversity management for a range of clients including school systems, hospital networks and city and state governments as well as a wide range of companies working domestically in the United States as well as in Canada, Mexico, East Asia and Europe. I have consulted and run programs for over 150 companies and organizations, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to the state governments of Idaho, Iowa and Michigan, the American Bar Association and the US Army as well as several city governments and health systems in the US and abroad.